As the debate over an audit of the Federal Reserve intensifies in the House,
one camp is trotting
out eight academics that it calls a "political cross section of prominent
economists."
A review of their backgrounds shows they are anything but.
In a letter to the House Financial Services Committee earlier this month,
all eight wrote that they support the type of amendment now being introduced
by Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.). Watt's approach purports to increase Fed transparency
while it actually would tighten restrictions on any audits that could go
forward.
But far from a broad cross-section, the "prominent economists" lobbying
on behalf of the Watt bill are in fact deeply involved with the Federal Reserve.
Seven of the eight are either currently on the Fed's payroll or have been
in the past.
The Fed connections are not outlined in the letter sent around to committee
members on Wednesday, but are publicly discernible through a review of their
resumes, which are all posted online.
In September, Huffington Post reported that the Federal Reserve has accomplished
a soft form of effective control over the field of monetary economics simply
by employing -- and being the means for career advance -- for an overwhelming
proportion of the discipline.
Let's run the traps:
Frederic Mishkin is a former board member, having served from 2006-2008.
His career at the Fed stretches back to 1977 and he currently holds two positions:
one as a member of the Center for Latin American Economics at the Federal
Reserve Bank of Dallas, where he's been since 1996; and another as an academic
consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he's been since
1997.
Anil K. Kashyap is currently a consultant with the Federal Reserve Bank
of Chicago, a position he's held since 1991. He's also on the economic advisory
panel of the New York branch and was a consultant there in 2003. He was a
visiting scholar at the division of monetary affairs at the Board of Governors
of in1994, 2001 and 2005 and at the division of international finance in
1997.
Pete Klenow was a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
from 1994-1999, 2003-2004, 2006 and again this year. From 2000-2003 he was
also a senior economist at that branch. He's currently a visiting scholar
at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, a position he's held since
2005. He was a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
from 2004-2006.
Ricardo J. Caballero was a visiting scholar at Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
from 2004-2005 and a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Board on multiple
occasions.
Robert Hall was a research assistant at the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System from 1982-1984 and an economist there from 1988-1991.
Thomas Sargent was an adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
from 1981 to 1987 and continues to write frequently for Fed-sponsored journals.
Micheal Woodford is currently on the Monetary Policy Advisory Committee
of Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a position he's held since 2004. He's
also listed as a consultant to the research department there dating back
to 2005. In the past, he's been a visiting scholar at the Board of Governors
and various regional branches in 1987, 1993-1998 and 2000-present, often
at multiple banks in the same year.
That list of economists is anything but unbiased. The conflict of interest
is clear, loud, and undeniable.
Please help.
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